Jay-Z Accuser Recants In Federal Filing – Says She Never Met Shawn Carter

Recantation in Court - She Says Jay-Z Never Met or Assaulted Her

A woman who previously accused Jay-Z of rape in a 2024 lawsuit has filed a declaration recanting her claim. The statement, submitted Thursday in US District Court for the Southern District of New York, says there is "no truth to any of my claims" against Shawn Carter and that she was not being paid for her statements.

In her filing, the woman said she "never met or spoken to Mr. Carter" and that he never engaged in any inappropriate conduct toward her. The original civil complaint alleged assaults by both Jay-Z and Sean "Diddy" Combs in 2000 when the woman said she was 13 years old.

"I did not meet or speak to Shawn Carter, and the allegations against him are not true," the woman wrote in the new declaration, according to court records.

Legal Fallout - Jay-Z Drops Her as Defendant

After the recantation, Jay-Z’s lawyers said they would drop the woman as a defendant in their defamation and malicious prosecution case. Jay-Z had sued her and her law firm after she later dropped the civil lawsuit she had filed in October 2024.

Representatives for Jay-Z did not comment on the filing. The defamation suit remains pending as the legal fallout continues to play out in federal court.

What She Says About the Original Complaint

The woman’s declaration also faulted her own attorneys, saying they brought the 2024 complaint "without conducting any independent investigation, background inquiry, or due diligence, and without obtaining any corroboration of the allegations." She said she had not seen a draft of the complaint before it was filed.

She told the court she had first reached out to the law firm after seeing a Facebook ad seeking anyone who may have been harmed by Combs. The ad, she said, triggered memories of an assault when she was 13; she filled out an online form and was later contacted by a law firm. Weeks later, a lawsuit was filed on her behalf.

Combs, Conviction Context, and Reactions

The woman also said Sean "Diddy" Combs did not rape her. That original allegation is separate from the case that led to Combs’ 2025 conviction and 50-month prison sentence on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.

Attorneys for Combs did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Reporters on the story were Lisa Richwine, with editing by Cynthia Osterman.